Through the Clock
by Annibelle White
Summary: This is for once based on the musical. They have just stepped through the clock, The Witch and the Scarecrow. Romance? I think so... Pairing: Fiyeraba
1. Chapter 1: Scarecrow

AN: Even better, here's another Christmas present for my readers: a whole new story! This one is based on the musical. I hope you like.

When they stepped through the clock, they found a shocking vision of the other side. Tall, smoking buildings seemed to be everywhere. The only thing that wasn't surprising was that the color of everyone's skin was white or dark brown. No green.

"This is going to be a problem." Elphaba said.

"Why?" Asked the Scarecrow.

"We're going to stick out."

They were standing on their own in some empty room looking out the window. Of course, they had no idea where they were, but they had a lot of other concerns, too. The Scarecrow said, "Maybe we won't."

"Ugh!" Elphaba kicked the wall. "Damn it! We're screwed. What am I going to do? This is a mess! I can't - "

The Scarecrow grabbed her and hugged her against him. "Shhh. We need to get out of here. Do you hear that?"

There were footsteps above them, voices below them and other various noises to the side of them. Elphaba looked at the Scarecrow sadly. "I wish I hadn't had to change you."

"I'll live."

"Right. But we can barely even hold each other anymore, Fiyero."

There were tears dripping down her face and the Scarecrow touched a gloved finger to her cheeks to wipe them away. "At least we're alive. Now, we've got to get somewhere where we can have some privacy and time to figure out what we do next."

Elphaba nodded solemnly. "I know."

The Scarecrow's face seemed to brighten. "Look across the street! Perfect. A hotel."

"And how are we going to get in without looking incredibly odd, Fiyero?"

The Scarecrow took Elphaba's cloak, wrapped it around her and put the hood over her head. "If we're lucky, the lighting inside will be bad and no one will take a second look at you if you ask for a room."

"And you?"

"Make sure to get a room with a window. I'll climb up. It's really easy when I'm made of straw, you know."

She smiled weakly. "All right. Let's go."

The Scarecrow lifted her to the window, which she opened and climbed out of and then reached a hand to help him. They crept across the street and the Scarecrow pulled her around a corner. "I'll be near this wall. Call out to me from the window when you get in the room. This building is small, I should be able to find you."

Tightening her cloak, Elphaba went into the hotel. Bowing her head, she went to the front desk. "I need a room."

A pretty brunette woman looked at her and smiled. "Sure, no problem. It's sixty-seven dollars a night. You pay in the morning." Gesturing to Elphaba's outfit and skin, she asked, "Costume party?"

_Whatever lets me get away with looking like this in this world._ Elphaba smiled. "Yes. Thank you."

The pale woman handed her a key. "Room two hundred and forty two."

Elphaba grabbed the key and headed up the stairs. When she found the room, she sighed in relief and opened the door. After tugging the hot cloak off, she went to the window. Opening it, she stuck her head out. "Fiyero?"

The Scarecrow ran around the corner and looked up. "I'll be there in a minute. Just leave the window open and get out of the way." Carefully, he climbed the ledges of the hotel and tumbled into the room. "Ta-da!"

She laughed and hugged him. But she pulled away almost immediately. "Ow! You poked me."

The Scarecrow moved his hands. "Sorry. The straw…"

"If only…"

"Don't start."

"Sorry."

"No. I'm sorry. If it weren't for me bursting into that encounter, you wouldn't have had to…"

"Do that?" She finished, gesturing to his figure. "But if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be alive right now. You saved my life. I didn't save yours."

"We saved each other." He corrected her.

She nodded solemnly and clutched his hand. "We'll never be able to…"

"I know. That's okay."

"But it's not okay. I want to love you." She said angrily.

"I know you do. Maybe someday, in this new place, we'll find a way to change me back. But for now, all that matters is that we're alive."

She looked away and sat on the bed, wringing her hands. "I wish I could fix this now. And I wish I could fix myself."

"Elphaba, you're beautiful. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"I didn't mean because I want you to think I'm beautiful, though that would be a plus. I meant that I'd like to change my skin color so at least one of us can fit in around here. If you were still a man, maybe it'd be easier. But because of what I've done, it's not going to be that easy."

"Nothing is supposed to be easy in life. Unless you're going to be some devil-may-care, unaware of the world, secretly unhappy person like I was."

"You'd be happier if you'd married Glinda."

"I somehow severely doubt that. I love you." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Green skin only makes you all the more beautiful to me."

"Well, it's good that I'm not really allergic to water. That would really suck for me, wouldn't it?"

"Don't think about it. Let's work on how we're going to live for the next few days."

"We have no money. I can't even pay for this room."

"I have some Ozian money." The Scarecrow began digging in his pockets. "Well, actually, I had a lot of it… what the hell?"

"This doesn't look like Ozian money to me, Fiyero."

"What sort of currency is this? And who is Alexander Hamilton?"

"I have no idea."

"Could it be currency from _this_ world?"

"But how?"

"Some sort of change when we stepped through the clock?"

"That's the only thing that makes sense."

"Then we have money!"

"Only enough to live on for a day or two, at the most. I doubt we can live off of that forever."

"You can't look on the bright side, can you?"

"Not for very long."

He touched her hair, aching that he couldn't actually feel the soft strands beneath the cloth of his hands. "I love you."

Tears welled in her eyes and she replied, "I love you, too."

He sat down on the bed. "I'm exhausted. Let's get some sleep."

In the morning, Elphaba woke curled up close to the edge of the bed, as far away from the Scarecrow as she could possibly be. When she rolled over, she was scratched by straw. "Shit!"

"Hmm? Huh?" The Scarecrow stirred and found her bleeding lightly. "Elphaba!"

"I'm fine."

"That was me, wasn't it?"

"Only because I rolled into you. Forget about it."

"I'm sorry."

"It's me that should be sorry, you know. I hate this! I can't stand it!" Rage built in her body and she stood up, turning away from the bed. "It's not fair!"

The Scarecrow didn't answer. He'd disappeared and in his place there was a burst of light, which Elphaba at first mistook for flame.

"No! Oh no, what have I done?" Elphaba cursed herself and buried her face in her hands.

"Elphaba?"

She looked up. "It's not possible. You're…"

"Human?" Fiyero smiled at her. "I guess I am."

"I got angry and I…"

"I know." He opened his arms to her.

She ran into his arms. "Fiyero!"


	2. Chapter 2: What DOES water do to her?

She reached and touched the face that had been made of straw only moments ago. "Look at you."

He hugged her. "I knew we'd find a way."

"We didn't necessarily find one, it just kind of..."

"Hush." He kissed her passionately.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back like she'd never kissed him before, though, of course, she had. "Thank Oz."

He began to slide his hands - now skin rather than cloth - down her body. Quickly, he reached for the zipper at the back of her dress. "Do you want to...?"

"Not now." She stopped him, though she was smiling. "We have as long as we want to do that later."

He grinned. "We do, don't we?"

She hugged him tight against her. "I... I love you."

He titled her chin. "I love you, too, Elphaba."

Suddenly, she pulled away. "Fiyero!"

"What?"

She glared at him. "Did I not just say 'not now'?"

He looked down at himself, laughing. "That wouldn't be there if I wasn't human."

She rolled her eyes and sat back down on the bed. "Fiyero, I've never..."

"I know." He replied, taking her in his arms. "Neither have I."

"You mean you and Glinda never...?"

"No. I couldn't get my mind off of you."

"You really loved me... all of that time?"

"Yes."

She shook her head. "Unreal."

"No, it's very real."

"I never thought that _you_ could love me."

"For a while, I didn't either." He sighed. "But I love you."

"And I love you," she said, incredulous. "I just didn't expect it."

"Well, things happen and you don't always expect them."

"But _I _normally can."

He took her hands. "You can't predict love, Elphaba."

Her face flushed. "I guess not."

Dropping her hands, he moved towards the window. "It doesn't look so nice outside."

He was right. The clouds were darkening and, across the city - whatever city it was that they were in - there was lightning. "Well, it's a good thing we're inside."

"There's nothing to do."

"Yes, there is," she said, changing her mind. "I guess since we don't have to wait until later..."

"Are you sure?" He asked tentatively.

"Yes."

They took the afternoon to explore one another's bodies, glad to have more than just one moment. Curiosity took it's time, and by the time they had decided they were sufficiently done with their "exploration", there was a knock on the door. "Room service."

Elphaba jumped. "One moment," she called, pulling on her dress.

Fiyero stopped her. "Maybe I should get it, now that I look a bit more... normal." He said, trying not to be offensive.

She understood and nodded. Lazily, she buried her entire body under the blanket. "I'll be waiting."

Fiyero laughed and pulled on his clothes. Quickly, answered the door. "Yes?"

"Do you want your room cleaned, sir, or will you be staying another night?" Asked a blonde woman who had a cart pushed in front of her with cleaning supplies.

"We'll be staying, and I think we'll stay in the room the rest of the day," Fiyero said, looking towards the bed. "Thanks, though, ma'am."

"Enjoy your stay!"

Fiyero sat back down on the bed. "The people in this world are really friendly."

Elphaba came up from beneath the blankets. "Sounds like it. Maybe they'll be more accepting of a green person."

"How can they not be? You're so wonderful, it's easy to forget... plus, I like it."

"You do not." She accused.

"I don't think it makes any difference." He said, rephrasing his sentence.

"You're sweet."

"It's because I love you."

Elphaba sighed and got dressed, disappointing Fiyero, who'd been looking forward to another "exploration" in bed. She stood near the glass doors that revealed the small balcony outside. "The rain looks different here."

He got up and put an arm around her, looking outside as well. "It's shinier."

"More silvery."

Fiyero grabbed both of Elphaba's hands. "Let's dance in the rain."

"You're kidding me. I have nothing else to wear, I don't want to get my dress wet!"

"It'll dry. Besides, it needs to be cleaned somehow, even if you have to be wearing while it happens." Fiyero teased.

Elphaba was still hesitant. "I don't know. I mean, if the rain looks different here, who knows if it's safe to go outside?"

Fiyero gestured to the people walking on the sidewalk beneath the window. "They're having no problems."

"They don't seem to like it."

"A couple of them do."

"But we're not like people in this world."

"We certainly look enough like them."

"I don't."

"But you were never allergic to water before, why should you be now?"

"I told you, it looks different. This might not be your average, run of the mill type of water."

"Just stick your hand out, then." Fiyero begged, opening the doors.

Elphaba sighed in resignation. "I guess I have no other choice."

"Try it. It feels good." Fiyero said, stepping outside into the rain.

Elphaba stuck her hand out and gasped.

Fiyero looked at her. Green was dripping from her hand. Oh, no! What if water really did melt her? "Elphaba?"

But now she was laughing. The green was not remnants of her skin, but it was washing away, as if something in the water was removing the green tinge from her skin. She stepped all the way out onto the balcony and danced around. "Maybe we'll both fit in here, after all."

**AN: Join my WICKED forum, the link is in my profile. I hope you liked my update. This one was an idea of my friends, to have water not melt her but wash away her greenness. Maybe there's something special in our water, or something. Lol.**


	3. Chapter 3: Glinda

**I'm finally updating! I'm sorry I've been so busy and had so many computer troubles. I'm not even on my own computer right now. Now, let's not forget and neglect my forum guys. Mods, please handle it while I'm unable to do much. Thanks! Read on, I hope you like!**

He stared at her in incredulity. "Elphaba..."

She blinked, watching traces of green disappear from her skin. "Sweet Oz, I thought I'd never get rid of this curse!"

"You really find your skin a curse?"

"What skin?" Elphaba grinned. "This is... a miracle!"

He wasn't sure of how to react to Elphaba's new "look". Personally, he had loved her the way she had been before. But he could still love her, green or not. It would be better for them if they wanted to fit in, he knew. Taking both of her hands, he said, "Come inside."

The green had washed away completely by now, so she nodded and stepped inside. Sitting on the bed, she looked at Fiyero, who had closed the doors and was staring out of them. "What?"

"What do you mean: what?"

"What do we do now, Fiyero?"

"I don't know."

"Neither do I."

They sat in silence for a long while as he stared out the window and she sat, staring at her feet on the bed.

"We've got to figure something out."

"I know."

"How are we going to survive in this world?"

"I have no idea."

Elphaba sighed. "We'll need money. And we'll need... I don't know this world well enough to know what we'll need."

"It's odd, just appearing out of nowhere."

She shrugged. "I want to go back."

"We can't."

"Why not? I mean, maybe people wouldn't think I was wicked if they saw I'd lost the green, you know?"

"Elphaba, you know it wouldn't be that easy."

"You're right. But why not? We can't stay here."

"How do you know that?"

"It just feels wrong. This world isn't ours. We don't belong here."

He wrapped her in his arms. "We'll have to try."

* * *

Back in Oz, Glinda the Good wandered Kiamo Ko. "Elphie..." She sighed.

"Miss Glinda?" Chistery was standing in the stairwell.

"Chistery!" Glinda ran to pet the monkey. She'd always secretly found the monkeys incredibly cute. Looking around, she noticed that Elphaba's hat was missing. "Well, that's odd."

"Miss Glinda?" He seemed to be asking "What?" but could only say the words "Miss Glinda".

"Nothing Chistery." She scratched the monkey behind the ears and then examined the place where the hat had once been. "Hmmm."

The monkey hopped around and began flapping his wings.

"What is it, Chistery?"

Where was that dratted hat, anyway? After a moment more of searching, it was not to be found. Glinda sighed and looked at the monkey who was still gesturing towards the empty place on the floor that the hat had left.

"What?" She asked again.

* * *

"I miss Glinda," Elphaba repeated.

Fiyero sighed. They'd been having this same discussion for over an hour. "I know you do."

"I want to go back."

"We've gone over this. We can't."

Angrily, Elphaba asked, "Why is this so hard?"

"Because life is difficult, Elphaba."

She shrugged at this wisdom that her previously careless lover had acquired. "I just wish…"

"You've said this before." He reminded her.

"I know," she snapped.

Staring at the white skin where green had once been, he blinked, still not used to the sensation it caused. Elphaba was strangely pale without the green, he decided. She would have to get some sun, once they figured out what they were going to do. "I love you."

"I love you, too. But that doesn't mean we can survive in this strange place, Fiyero."

"As I said, we'll try."

"I thought I hated Oz. I thought I hated the people. But suddenly I miss them all."

"Well, maybe people here are better."

"But it's true what they say, isn't it, Fiyero?"

"What? What that they say?"

"That 'there's no place like home'."

"I guess so."

"Don't you miss your family?"

"I…" He thought for a moment.

"And it's all my fault that you can't ever see them again."

"Here you go again, blaming yourself. You can't keep doing this, Elphaba."

"Do you miss them?" She was insistent.

"Well, yes."

"You wouldn't miss them if I hadn't ruined our lives."

"You didn't ruin our lives, Elphaba!" He argued.

"But I did. We can't go home. At least it doesn't look like we can."

"We can't."

"See?"

"Elphaba…"

"No."

"Elphaba, please don't talk like this…"

She folded her arms and sat on the bed, turned away from Fiyero. "But it's true. How can I not speak the truth?"

Sitting beside her on the bed, he slid an arm around her and kissed her warmly on the cheek. "It doesn't matter. I've got you and that's enough for me."

Elphaba looked up at Fiyero and smiled.

* * *

Chistery was flopping about like a fish, though he was certainly a monkey. He obviously wanted the Good Witch's attention. However, Glinda did not expect to see what she saw when she was finally able to focus in on what Chistery had been indicating towards.

"Elphie, Fiyero… you're still alive!"


End file.
